A key feature of most three-dimensional computer models, for viewing in two dimensions on a screen, is the selection of suitable texture maps. Texture maps are used to provide details of various surface properties, such as colour, opacity, roughness, shading, transparency, and so on. Often, texture maps are created from photographs or scanned images. This can result in very large file sizes.
New applications of texture maps, such as in images transmitted to be viewed on mobile telephone displays, require a very small bandwidth. There is simply not enough time to send large files. The present invention seeks to provide a method and apparatus apt for use with mobile telephones.
It is a problem of image storage on discs that the images take up very large amounts of space. The texturing information forms a large part of the required storage. The present invention seeks to provide an improved method and apparatus for image storage on discs, allowing storage of more images on the same disc.
In a limited band width or capacity situation, the present invention seeks to provide a means whereby more surface texture can be transmitted in a fixed time, or over a fixed bandwidth, or stored in a fixed space.
Users of the World Wide Web are often, with good reason, impatient. A user will wait only a certain amount of time before abandoning a web page and going elsewhere. By allowing the rapid transmission of texture data, the present invention seeks to provide a means whereby web pages are more rapidly made available.